Virtus. Pro CEO Sergey Glamazda leaves the organization

After two years as the CEO of Virtus.Pro, Sergey Glamazda has parted ways with the organization. Following the incident at the Dota Pro Circuit Regional Playoffs in late April, the Russian esports organization is said to be rebuilding its leadership. ESforce, Virtus.pro’s parent company, is now preparing to administer the org with “a team of top management.”

In the official statement regarding Glamazda’s departure, Nikolay Petrosyan, CEO of the ESforce, said that Virtus.Pro is facing new challenges which have led to the decision to restructure. As a result, the organization will be led by ESforce management along with Virtus pros’ team of senior managers, who will be in charge of individual esports disciplines. 

For now, ESforce seems to have taken a prominent role in the management and key decisions of Virtus.pro. Considering the company has removed the role of CEO from the organization structure, more structural changes are likely to be announced in the future. 

What sparked the change

The announcement came after the carry of VP’s Dota 2 team, Ivan “pure” Moskalenko drew a militarist symbol during a live Dota Pro Circuit match. The “Z” symbol, which has long been used by the Russian military, appeared on an in-game minimap during a game pause. By using the symbol, Pure seems to have made a statement supporting the Russian war in Ukraine. 

As a result, the VP Dota 2 team was disqualified from the DPC Eastern Europe Spring Regional Playoffs. Pure’s contract with the organization was terminated the following day, however, the organization made no public statements regarding the incident. Moreover, the team’s Coach Anatoly Ivanov was also fired due to “unsatisfactory outcomes” during his time with the org. 

 

In a response to the recent news, the Dota 2 community and Virtus.pro fans started discussing what’s next for the team, speculating that VP might end up disbanding its current roster entirely. While some would like to see the current team captain Danil “gpk” Skutin transfer to Europe and sign with Nigma Galaxy, others mention the return of Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev to the line-up. He first joined Virtus.Pro’s Dota 2 roster in 2016, and left after three years with the organization. 

Header: Virtus.Pro